Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 19
19
HMPPS extended Dartmoor lease despite radon, requiring further investment for reopening
Conclusion
To help with capacity pressures, HMPPS recently extended its lease for HMP Dartmoor by 25 years, starting in 2023–24, despite the detection of radon gas in 2020. It closed the prison temporarily in July 2024, following the detection of high radon readings.66 Given the likely substantial costs involved with any remediation, we asked HMPPS whether it had negotiated a reduced price when extending the lease. HMPPS told us that it had secured some investment in the negotiation which it plans to use towards solutions for reopening the prison.67